Good Woman Blues (11 page)

“Brandon might surprise you.” Erikka patted
her arm and stood when the phone rang. “I’ll get it. Oh.”

Darlene glanced at her expression of
surprise. Erikka stared at the caller ID. “What’s up?”

“Business call for me.”

Erikka left the room with the handset.
Darlene got up and went to read the display. She sucked in a quick
breath when she read the name. “Have mercy.”

“Here. Ten pages on genome research. You
ought to trust me.” Malik handed pages printed from his computer to
Darlene.

“Great. Be home by nine. Shedrick’s mother
knows cause I talked to her.” Darlene put the report on the kitchen
counter without looking at it. She tiptoed to the door Erikka had
gone through.

“All that drama and you’re not gonna read it?
Man.” Malik shook his head and left, muttering to himself.

Darlene heard the soft patter of Erikka’s
sandals on the hardwood floors. She dashed to the table and sat
down just in time. “Got another accounting contract job?”

“Maybe. Gabriel Cormier has a furniture
business. We made an appointment to talk.” Erikka put the phone
down but stood with her hand on it.

“Oh.” Darlene pressed her lips together.

“What’s with the mysterious attitude? He
seems nice enough.” Erikka glanced at her as she refilled her
coffee mug.

“I don’t like to gossip. Lord knows enough of
it goes around this town. Wagging tongues don’t care who gets
hurt.” Darlene tore a paper napkin into strips.

“Sounds like the voice of experience.” Erikka
sat in the chair across from her.

Troubled or not, Erikka had picked up the
vibes between Darlene and Kelvin Washington that day on the street.
Darlene put on a smile to deflect the probing look in Erikka’s
eyes.“Gossip is a contact sport in small towns like this. Everybody
becomes the topic of discussion sooner or later.”

“I can imagine. Not enough to do around
here.” Erikka took a sip of coffee and sighed.

“Plenty of ways to get in trouble,” Darlene
countered, not thinking of Gabriel.

“If this guy is a suspected serial killer you
might want to mention it before I go over there,” Erikka
wisecracked.

“Well, not exactly. He’s just—”

“Not exactly? You mean he killed somebody?
Girl, you best start talking to me.” Erikka’s eyes widened with
shock.

“No, no. It was an accident. Well, that was
the official verdict. There wasn’t enough evidence that he did it
on purpose and then—they were all wild kids back in the day.”
Darlene lifted a shoulder.

‘Take it from the top, please.” Erikka folded
her arms and waited.

“Gabriel’s family is real powerful around
here, especially his daddy. The business building at the community
college in Lafayette is called the Cormier Center.” Darlene eyed
Erikka closely.

“I got ya. Folks are careful not to talk
about the Cormiers. This is just you and me.” Erikka leaned forward
as though to hear the story better.

“Gabriel had his own little posse back in the
day, mostly well-to-do brats. You know the type. Their parents
socialized together and made sure the kids had the right friends,”
Darlene said with scorn.

“Do I know? I attended a private school with
those kinds of brats,” Erikka retorted.

“Anyway, Gabriel got kicked out of two
private Catholic high schools. He majored in drinking and fighting
in college. Funny, but some of his old running buddies are
upstanding citizens now.” Darlene shook her head.

“Anyway, there was one poor kid they let hang
with them. Ricky was from a big family, but his mama worked hard to
take care of them. Ricky played on the football team with Gabriel
and the others. He wanted to be in with them. Gabriel had a
Corvette convertible and he’d let Ricky drive it. They’d party in
Houston, New Orleans, and Atlanta. Guess Ricky was just caught up
in the high life. They all got into minor trouble. You know,
shooting at road signs, sneaking beer before they were twenty-one,
bored teenager stuff.”

“There’s a name for kids like that in New
Orleans— delinquents,” Erikka put in.

“Obnoxious, too. Pushed the limit a few
times. But their daddies managed to smooth things over. One night
they all got to drinking and took off in a couple of cars. They
ended up at this juke joint way out in the country. Gabriel and
Ricky got into a fight about something. Then a big brawl broke out,
and Ricky ended up dead.”

“Damn.” Erikka stared at her.

“Yeah. He took several blows to the head and
never recovered. Died two weeks later in the hospital. But the
machines had been keeping him alive anyway. Nobody could say who
struck the fatal blows, but Gabriel was the main suspect. The
townspeople split. It was something else. I’m telling you they had
to hustle those guys out of town.” Darlene shook her head.

“I’m sure Ricky’s family was upset,” Erikka
said.

“Oh yeah. He had two older brothers into thug
life. They tried to get their hands on Gabriel and his friends.
Things were tense around here. I made Brandon play inside all that
summer.”

“So, Gabriel’s dad hired an expensive lawyer
and got him off,” Erikka said.

“That’s about it. Like I said, nobody could
say he was the one that hit Ricky that last time before he went
down and never got up. From the story that came out, dudes were
throwing punches, chairs, you name it.

“He looks so laid-back, so... I don’t know,
nice.” Erikka gazed into her coffee mug as though she could see his
face.

“Those good looks can fool you every time.”
Darlene picked up her coffee cup and drank.

Erikka looked at Darlene. “Bottom line, even
if he did kill Ricky, it was an accident. But there is just as good
a possibility he didn’t.”

‘True,” Darlene admitted.

“So, I won’t have to worry about being alone
with a Hannibal Lector understudy.” Erikka wore a relieved
expression.

“People around here had their own verdict.
Besides, they resented the way Gabriel got away with so much as a
kid. His father made a few enemies, not to mention the rest of his
family over the years.”

“They preferred to believe the worst,” Erikka
said.

“For sure. There were all kinds of rumors
about his motive. Some said Gabriel started the brawl as a cover.
They said he had planned to kill Ricky to shut him up about some
dark secret. The story was the boys didn’t get all their spending
money from their daddies.” Darlene picked up both mugs and took
them to the kitchen sink.

“Drug dealing,” Erikka murmured.

“Or running a prostitution ring pimping
society girls, some of them white.” Darlene rinsed the cups clean
and dried them. “Most of that talk was complete nonsense.”

“I won’t call Loreauville boring again.”
Erikka let out a low whistle.

“The grand jury said there wasn’t enough
evidence to indict him. Gabriel left town for close to ten years.
He keeps to himself now. I haven’t even gotten to some of the stuff
Gabriel’s brother Vince has done.”

“Not that you would spread gossip,” Erikka
said, with a lift of one eyebrow.

“Hey, you asked. Besides, you do need to know
the whole story since you may be working for the man.” Darlene hung
the cups on a wooden display rack with four matching mugs.

“Sounds like nobody knows the whole story,
except maybe Gabriel and his now-very-respectable former frat
brothers.” Erikka propped her chin on one palm and looked out of
the kitchen window. “A real small southern town mystery.”

“That was way back in 1989. In the trial it
came out that there were some real hoodlums in the club that night.
Five guys and three girls were taken to the hospital.”

“But folks still haven’t forgiven Gabriel.”
Erikka looked at Darlene.

“Small-town judgments can be harsh.”

Darlene knew that only too well. She thought
of Kelvin. The old loneliness gnawed at her. Those long nights had
finally become too much, for both of them. Now look where it had
taken her. His son would leave for college in the fall. No more
kids at home. No more reason to stay with his wife. Three short
months away.

“All of a sudden you sound sympathetic toward
Gabriel. The other day, when he showed up, I didn’t get that
impression,” Erikka said, interrupting her thoughts.

“The other day?” Darlene tried to focus on
something other than Kelvin.

“When we were downtown. You acted like I
should stay far away from him,” Erikka said. She waved a hand in
front of Darlene’s face. “What’s up?”

Darlene recovered. “I think we can both agree
you’ve had your share of trouble.”

‘True to that,” Erikka said with a tight
smile. “For the last year or so I specialized in trouble.”

“That’s all I’m saying. Folks will talk—”

“No matter what we do, folks will run their
mouths,” Erikka broke in. “I’ve got nerve jumping to believe some
stupid rural gossip. Lord knows what they are saying about me.”

“Well...” Darlene cleared her throat. She
knew tongues were wagging. At least two friends had called
dutifully to report what others were saying.

“You know what? I’m going to meet with
Gabriel Cormier.” Erikka gave a sharp nod.

“I don’t know.” Darlene shook her head
slowly.

“Make up your mind.” Erikka threw up both
hands. “Dang, girl. I can’t keep up.”

“I was just trying to finish telling you the
whole story. Now you know,” Darlene replied. “Gabriel has been back
home for about six months. He seems nice enough, but you need to
keep your life simple. Don’t get involved with him.” “I

“I’m going to help straighten out his
business books, not ‘get involved.’ ”

“I used to read those gothic romances back in
the day. There was always the tall, dark, brooding hero with a
painful past,” Darlene said, and pointed at her.

“Oh please.” Erikka rolled her eyes.

“Gabriel is one good-looking brother, with
those soulful eyes. He’s got that reformed-bad-boy mystique goin’
on. You, my dear, are on the rebound from Vaughn. I’m just saying.”
Darlene shrugged a shoulder.

“Do I look like Boo-Boo the Fool?” Erikka
snorted. She stood up. “Listen here, you don’t need to worry. This
is real life. I don’t do soulful eyes and bad boys. Upwardly mobile
guys dressed expensively and driving sports cars are my weakness. I
think I’m safe out here.”

“If you say so.” Darlene sighed. The
rebellious glint in Erikka’s light brown eyes told Darlene what
would happen next.

“I say so for damn sure. And another thing, I
don’t give a flip what these small-town, small-minded people have
to say.” Erikka took an apple from the bowl of fruit on Darlene’s
kitchen counter.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Darlene
said.

“One more thing I miss about New Orleans,
nobody dipping their spoons all up in your business twenty-
four/seven,” Erikka retorted. She took a bite from the apple.

“Okay, I’m leaving it alone. Men of all ages
can be trouble.” Darlene stared at the back door.

“What are you going to do about Brandon?”
Erikka took a bite out of the apple.

“Nothing. I’m done trying to talk sense into
him. Maybe his father will have more success.” Darlene rubbed her
forehead with the tips of her fingers. A small circle of pain
threatened to spread.

“This woman might turn out to be a good
influence on him,” Erikka said. She lifted a shoulder when Darlene
looked skeptical.

“Yeah, right,” Darlene said softly.

“Cheer up. He’s a big boy now. Time he had
his own set of regrets like the rest of us.” Erikka patted
Darlene’s shoulder as she left the kitchen.

“About Gabriel Cormier—” Darlene called
out.

“Under control.” Erikka gave her a thumbs-up
without looking back.

Darlene inhaled and exhaled deeply. She might
have pushed the subject of Gabriel harder, but who was she to
lecture on men? Kelvin Washington popped into her head again, as he
did so often. Though her upbringing told Darlene she should feel
guilt, none came. After all, Darlene reasoned, she had a right to
find happiness. Kelvin and his wife led separate lives. They were
together only because their youngest son was still home. Things
would be messy for a while, but that was the price they had to pay.
Then Darlene thought about Brandon’s backhanded swipe at her own
choices. Darlene rubbed at the tension in her now-aching neck. That
old song was right. Love sure as hell is a hurting thing.

***

Two days later on Friday Erikka’s trip into
New Orleans had turned dismal. Hot and muggy, dull gray clouds
blotted out any sunshine that might have helped. A steady misting
rain completed the gloomy atmosphere. The entire city seemed
covered by a layer of damp grime. They sat in the living room of
Hope’s two-bedroom apartment. The two women watched as a rogues’
gallery was paraded before them on the local news; surveillance
video of suspects in a string of robberies. Erikka picked up the
remote on the cushion between them and changed the channel. She did
not need to be reminded of the court system, not after the day
she’d had. Hope had volunteered to drive her since Erikka was so
nervous. She still had a headache.

Hope put her feet on the coffee table. Her
red-checked socks matched the oversized sleep shirt she wore.

“Chill, okay? Wasn’t so bad really,” Hope
said as though reading her mind.

“Oh, no, Hope. I had a faboo time sitting
around half the day with a collection of the city’s most
undesirable element,” Erikka snapped.

“I said I was sorry.” Hope glanced at her
with a look of chagrin.

“We got to court late because you couldn’t
get your butt out of bed. Thanks to you I got a lecture from the
judge. This close.” Erikka squeezed her thumb and forefinger
together under Hope’s nose. “I came this close to having more
community service time added.”